Don’t hate, congratulate

Let’s be honest: putting yourself out there and sharing your work with the world is scary!

No matter who you are or how long you’ve been doing it, you’re vulnerable when you put yourself out there – but if you want to get any kind of traction or attention for your work, you’ve gotta do it. Because if nobody ever sees your work, it’s like a tree falling in the woods.

But the unfortunate reality is that so many people are scared to share their work because so many people out there are straight up assholes just waiting to tear other people apart on social media, in the comments, or with snide gossipy comments IRL.

This SUCKS!!!

So if you’re that guy or know someone who is, this is for you…

And just to be clear, we are by NO means getting up on our high horse here: we’ve been guilty of it too, so this is a reminder to ourselves as much as anyone that cutting other people down does NOT raise you up.

We all get feelings of jealousy and envy – that’s natural. But the key is to channel those feelings in a healthy way– into fuel that will help you and the other person grow.

So next time you feel that urge to talk shit rise up, try this instead: press pause, take a deep breath, and instead of saying something shitty about about them, congratulate them on their success. Try to put yourself in their shoes, and think about how you would feel if someone tore down your hard work – it doesn’t feel good, so take a step back and refocus that negative energy into something positive!

Instead of saying something shitty about them, vocally praise them for the exact thing that you feel threatened by. Say “You know what, I’m jealous as fuck that Jenny is so much better than I am at photography, but the truth is that she works her ass off and I should be hustling as hard as she does.”

Because you know what? The SECOND you say that, you’ll feel a weight lifted off your shoulders. Because you turned the negative energy – the jealousy and envy – into positivity, and now you’re free of it. Seriously, try it – you’ll literally feel better in seconds!